The ProblemEnergy production from fossil fuels, manufacture of food and chemicals using biocatalysis of carbohydrates as well as breathing of organisms are associated with oxidation of carbohydrate carbon to CO2 with oxygen as the end electron acceptor.

Petroleum can be dated: the age of reservoir hydrocarbons ranges from over a million years to more than 600 million years back (references of 5 billion years time frame exist). Most crude oil produced today is between 10 and 270 million years old. Petroleum accumulated over millions of years was almost depleted in just about 200 years. Burning of fossil fuels for energy generation had caused atmospheric CO2 spikes which significantly added to exponentially increasing air CO2content. Exponentially growing Earth population produces excreted via breathing CO2 as the final product of energy generation from oxidation of carbohydrates. Progressing global warming is supported by doubling of the Earth population every 35 years after commercialization of antibiotics and modern vaccines from 7 billion in 2011 to 14 billion in 2050 (http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/7/98.07.02.x.html).

In the air gas blend, CO2 is the heaviest gas with density 1.977 g per cubic meter (air density is 1.205 g per cubic meter). With extra CO2 on Earth surface its surface temperature continues to rise lifting more water vapors which leave Earth's gravity field into surrounding space vacuum. Moon ice discovered by NASA suggests that Earth actively loses fresh water to the outer space vacuum. The existence of Moon ice means that Earth’s water vapors are trapped on the cold surface while still further evaporating from ice. Therefore, global warming will bring a substantial fresh water shortage by 2050 ± 10 years thus causing dramatic changes to the world’s economy. Fresh water reserves comprise <3 % of the total planet water reserves. Fresh water most likely will become currency at that time. If air CO2 concentration would not be decreased dramatically in the next ten-fifteen years the planet will face substantial fresh water losses by approximately 2040 with respective deep social and economic changes making life totally different from that in these days.

The Tool To Reverse Global WarmingCommercial biocatalysis of air CO2 can be used for direct and selective manufacturing of chemicals, fuels and food/ food components for the existing global nearly $3 trillion market.

Commercial use of Acetyl-CoA pathway is a sound alternative to photosynthesis to reduce atmospheric CO2 [1-15]. Acetogens are known for the highest ratio of cell surface area-to-cell volume thus rendering the shortest path from extracellular gas nano-bubbles to the intracellular enzymes and back from enzymes to the extracellular medium for the biocatalysis product [1-16]. Acetogens have cell doubling time ~ 65 minutes under optimal growth conditions on gas blends, compared to ~ 21 h cell doubling time for higher plants and algae which also have complex cell architecture significantly splitting CO2 carbon flux with only a small fraction of that recoverable as enzymatically digestible carbohydrates [1-15]. Acetogens do not have “dark” fraction of inorganic carbon reduction cycle like photosynthetic organisms do (Calvin cycle in plants) thus do not consume already produced from CO2 carbohydrate cell reserves.

As opposite to algae-based biocatalysis, acetogen-based biocatalysis does not require excessive land and USP-grade water reserves for batch fermentation process sicne photosyntyhesis is a solely surface phenomenon with no bioreactor volume involved into process with no light inside plastic bags where CO2 is pumped in and oxygen out (?) (algae, cyanobacteria). Acetogens offer benefits of selective commercial biotransformation of air CO2 at almost 97 % rate of CO2 carbon recovery as carbon of target fuel or commodity chemical [1-15]. In lieu of that, biocatalysis of vent gas of >100 MW IGCC power plants (100 % CO2) to carbohydrates gains increasing interest [1-15] along with direct and selective fermentation of CO2 extracted from air using the same approach of biocatalyst design [7-15]. There is an indication that CO2 extracted from air is available at $15.00 /ton liquid (http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/proceedings/01/carbon_seq/7b1.pdf) thus creating the route to reverse global warming via direct and selective air CO2 biocatalysis. We are close to prprietary technology testing to bring the in house air CO2 cost down to about $2.00/ ton. Another important component to make carbohydrates via direct CO2 reduction to carbohydrate carbon, H2, was suggested for economically sound production via oil production water electrolysis powered by modern solar panels covering 20,000 gallon bioreactor roofs, where solar panels recover ~1 kW per square meter (http://www.kyocerasolar.com/assets/001/5154.pdf) rendering 120 - 140 kW per roof with O2 as the process by-product [7-15].